Novels by 𝑳𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒅𝒆𝑳𝒊𝒍𝒚

Leovan stopped dead in the doorway of Room 307. He had come to the hospital for a routine checkup, nothing more, and was halfway to the elevator when a flash of familiar dark hair caught his eye through the narrow glass panel in the door. He stepped closer. His eyes narrowed on the figure lying inside, small and pale against the white sheets. He knew that woman far too well."Valena!" he shouted.He shoved the door open so hard it struck the wall. The girl on the bed flinched, blinking several times as if to make sure of who had come barging in that afternoon."Brother Leo," her voice trembled."Don't call me brother, Valen! What are you doing here?"His voice rang down the corridor, and the people passing by slowed to stare."Are you pretending to be sick so we'll pity you?" he snapped. "Is this how you plan to crawl back into the family?""No. I never asked for your sympathy. The truth is, I..." The words caught in Valena's throat.The sentence died in her mind, never spoken aloud.

The heart monitor beeped steadily.Too steadily, for a girl whose heart was falling apart.Sean's proposal still hung in the air. He had said it so calmly, like he was reading out a lab report.That was what scared her most."Doctor." Valena's voice cracked. She twisted the edge of the blanket until her knuckles turned white. "You told me I don't have much time. How can you ask someone like me to marry you?"Sean stood up from the chair beside her bed.He came close. So close she could smell the antiseptic on his white coat.Then he cradled her face in both hands, gently, as if she might shatter."That's exactly why," he said. "As my wife, you'll be safer. You can choose your own treatment. You can go anywhere you want. You won't need anyone's permission."Valena laughed. It sounded ugly, even to her own ears."Free? Is that what you call it?" Her eyes stung. "My adoptive family threw me out like trash. And now, just to stay alive, I have to accept your pity?"Sean took her hand. His

Chapter 5The rain kept soaking her through, a cold that cut straight to the bone. A middle-aged woman came running over, tapping Valena's cheeks again and again, trying to get some kind of response."Sweetheart? Sweetheart, can you hear me?"But there was no answer. All Valena could feel was the heaviness of her own eyelids, as if the world around her had slowed to a crawl while her consciousness kept slipping further away. The woman whom Valena would later learn was Bu Marni, a street vendor who'd just closed up her stall for the night didn't waste a second. She pulled Valena under the nearest shop awning, hands trembling as she dialed for emergency help, begging for an ambulance from the nearest hospital as fast as possible.The wail of a siren registered faintly before Valena's consciousness fully returned how much time had passed in between, she couldn't say for certain.Bu Marni sat beside her in the ambulance, her face etched with a kind of worry that belonged to someone who'd

Chapter 4Two weeks after the surgery, Valena was still hiding an exhaustion that wouldn't let up, tucked behind a smile she forced every morning. No one asked why she looked paler by the day, because the family's attention had shifted entirely elsewhere.Even the party she'd once planned had simply been called off, without a second thought. That afternoon, Daniel showed up seething with anger."Valena!" He grabbed her arm, hard. "You've started accusing me of things now? What exactly do you think you saw?"The words shattered the quiet of the Dominique mansion. Valena, who had no idea what her fiancé was even talking about, could only stare back, confused."What are you saying, Niel?" She reached for his hand.But he shook her off. "Stop acting like an idiot, Valena. You're accusing me of cheating just because I sat with Elara at the hospital?"Valena stepped back. "Niel, I never said anything like that," she said.Footsteps sounded from the direction of the kitchen Elara, with Leova

Chapter 3Valena stood frozen for a moment before finally following after her family. Sera was already sobbing in Jorge's arms, while Elara stayed quiet, her expression unreadable. Valena herself was still trying to piece together what had happened by the time they reached the hospital.The hospital that night was flooded with harsh white light and the sharp bite of antiseptic. Valena sat in the waiting area with her family, hands wringing in her lap.The doctor treating Leovan came out of the IGD, his face grave. "He's stable for now, but there's significant damage to one of his kidneys from the impact.""What does that mean?" Jorge asked, his voice tight."We need to monitor him closely over the next twenty-four hours. If his condition doesn't improve, he'll need a transplant."Sera pressed both hands over her mouth, tears sliding down in silence."The party... doesn't matter anymore," Sera murmured, more to herself than to anyone else in the room. No one argued. The birthday and en

Chapter 2"Elara," Valena reached for Lara's hand."Ow, that hurts, Valen!" Elara yelped and yanked her hand back hard.She clutched her wrist like it was in pain. Valena stared at her, baffled, at Elara's wincing face the echo of that scream still ringing in her ears. Sera and Leovan came hurrying over."What's wrong, Elara?" Sera asked, while Leovan fixed Valena with a sharp look."Leo, I didn't do anything to her. I just reached for her hand, and she—" the sentence trailed off.Sera turned a hard stare on Valena, her hand rising in the air but stopping just short of her adopted daughter's cheek. "What exactly did you do, Valena?"She took a long breath before answering, her eyes on Sera. Her hands twisted at the hem of the shirt she'd worn that afternoon."I just reached for her hand, because I was calling her name and she—""Valena grabbed my arm, Mrs. Dominique. Um... she wasn't calling me, she just grabbed it," Elara cut in."If Valena had just called my name nicely, I would've